Detroit selected to host 2019 U.S. Figure Skating Championships

[Lanie]

Necromancing this a bit because my husband surprised me by saying he bought me tickets for Nationals for my birthday! YAY! So I will be there with bells on and then I will be at 4CC closer to home

 

[Carolla5501]

Necromancing this a bit because my husband surprised me by saying he bought me tickets for Nationals for my birthday! YAY! So I will be there with bells on and then I will be at 4CC closer to home

What a great present

 

[misskarne]

Necromancing this a bit because my husband surprised me by saying he bought me tickets for Nationals for my birthday! YAY! So I will be there with bells on and then I will be at 4CC closer to home

Lanie! We can have a double FSU party!

 

[Lanie]

Lanie! We can have a double FSU party!

UM YES! And unlike Boston we can actually hang out! Where are you staying? I am booking everything now and not sure what hotel I should choose!

 

[misskarne]

UM YES! And unlike Boston we can actually hang out! Where are you staying? I am booking everything now and not sure what hotel I should choose!

Hang on, I need to double check what it's called. Motor City Casino Hotel! It looks very nice, I booked it through the official site. I think they run a shuttle from there to the arena too, although it doesn't look that far a walk.

 

[Lanie]

What a great present

Last year Nationals was my present but it was a lot closer to home! Now I've got to buy snow appropriate clothes. This California girl is gonna freeze!

@misskarne, I'll check it out! I'm just getting an airfare/hotel package off Expedia probably. It worked great for Boston for Worlds.

 

[misskarne]

Now I've got to buy snow appropriate clothes. This California girl is gonna freeze!

*grins* The Californian and the Aussie who'll have just come straight from the middle of an Australian summer can freeze together!

 

[Lanie]

@misskarne I'm buying boots as we speak. Granted we will be moving out of state next year to where it does get cold and occasionally snows, so at least I'll be using these boots more than just Detroit, I hope! Then we can have Anaheim for 4CC where it'll be nice and warmish. Compared to Michigan.

 

[mysticchic]

Maybe we could have a gathering at my house. I am 15 minutes from downtown. Very easy to get to!

 

[Debbie S]

Party at mysticchic's!

Bought my ticket today, plan to be there Wed through Sun night.

 

[Debbie S]

The full grid schedule, with practice times, has been posted on the Schedule page of the Nats website: http://2019uschampionships.com/content/uploads/sites/7/2018/11/2019-GEICO-U.S.-Figure-Skating-Championship-Schedule.pdf

The specific times will probably change at least 5 times between now and then, but generally, the order of events and days/order of practices don't change much.

 

[HeatherC]

I like that there are some great long breaks in betweent events this year because I enjoy getting away from arena food for a while during this long week of competition.

 

[TanithandBenFan]

I hope the public will be allowed into the secondary practice rink that's inside the arena? That will be awesome to hop back and forth.

 

[livetoskate]

I finally took the plunge and bought tickets, plane tix and hotel reservations @ Aloft! Strangely enough, the hotel doesn't have a shuttle to the airport, and they basically tell people on the website to get a taxi (over $40 each way) or take a bus (more than an hour's ride). I've checked the airport website, but it doesn't have a lot of info there either. Are there any economical shuttles (like a Super Shuttle) that take groups of people from the airport to downtown hotels? Maybe I'll try Lyft, but if there are shuttles for $15-25 I'd prefer to do that. Thanks for any tips. I hope to meet some fellow FSU'ers there!

 

[mysticchic]

I finally took the plunge and bought tickets, plane tix and hotel reservations @ Aloft! Strangely enough, the hotel doesn't have a shuttle to the airport, and they basically tell people on the website to get a taxi (over $40 each way) or take a bus (more than an hour's ride). I've checked the airport website, but it doesn't have a lot of info there either. Are there any economical shuttles (like a Super Shuttle) that take groups of people from the airport to downtown hotels? Maybe I'll try Lyft, but if there are shuttles for $15-25 I'd prefer to do that. Thanks for any tips. I hope to meet some fellow FSU'ers there!

Lyft is really good here. Lots of teachers and college students drive for them. I use them a lot for dr appts and all the drivers have been nice. From my house to DSC is about 30 to 40 minutes. They charge 25.00. I don't use peak hours. Also most of the Lyft drivers drive for Uber. I have found I get a discount the next week after I use them. What hotel are you staying at?

 

[livetoskate]

I chose Aloft because it is the closest official hotel to Little Caesars Arena. Hopefully the weather will be decent so I can just walk back and forth. Thanks for the info!

 

[A.H.Black]

The full grid schedule, with practice times, has been posted on the Schedule page of the Nats website: http://2019uschampionships.com/content/uploads/sites/7/2018/11/2019-GEICO-U.S.-Figure-Skating-Championship-Schedule.pdf

The specific times will probably change at least 5 times between now and then, but generally, the order of events and days/order of practices don't change much.

Amazing. A big THANK YOU to whoever made it available this early.

 

[Carolla5501]

I finally took the plunge and bought tickets, plane tix and hotel reservations @ Aloft! Strangely enough, the hotel doesn't have a shuttle to the airport, and they basically tell people on the website to get a taxi (over $40 each way) or take a bus (more than an hour's ride). I've checked the airport website, but it doesn't have a lot of info there either. Are there any economical shuttles (like a Super Shuttle) that take groups of people from the airport to downtown hotels? Maybe I'll try Lyft, but if there are shuttles for $15-25 I'd prefer to do that. Thanks for any tips. I hope to meet some fellow FSU'ers there!

Actually I would be surprised if any downtown hotels have a shuttle to the airport.

The link below on the DTW airport website takes you to some information on shuttles, taxi, rideshare etc (I know it says parking, but it's their parking/transportation page)

https://www.metroairport.com/parking

Supershuttle does operate there, but personally I would take a rideshare as they can be as slow as the bus!

 

[luckiest1]

Does anyone know how the practices work with a Championship weekend pass?

 

[Debbie S]

Does anyone know how the practices work with a Championship weekend pass?

I believe only the all-event ticketholders have access to practices. However, if there is a practice in the main rink right before the event and you arrive a little early, you can usually get in to see it, depends on how the arena is managing entry.

 

[luckiest1]

Thanks for your reply. That's too bad, I was hoping to be able to attend men's practices on the Saturday morning in the practice rink.

 

[Carolla5501]

Having purchased the championship weekend ticket package the last few years I know it has not traditionally come with any access to practices.

 

[A.H.Black]

Thanks for your reply. That's too bad, I was hoping to be able to attend men's practices on the Saturday morning in the practice rink.

It's the one reason we still get the all-event ticket. We could usually save money by buying individual tickets, but those practice passes are gold. That one ticket is worth the whole cost of the all-event ticket.

 

[TanithandBenFan]

I confirmed with USFS that all-event ticket holders will have access to the practices at the secondary rink inside Little Caesar's Arena.

 

[luckiest1]

I'm kind of sorry we didn't just buy individual events at this point. You know what they say about never assuming anything....

 

[Debbie S]

Question for locals: It looks like the District Market is attached to the arena, so it sounds like it can be accessed from inside? And are people able to take food from there back into the arena?

(yes, I know arenas don't allow outside food but I didn't know if food bought there was considered 'outside', and the arena policies don't mention it one way or the other)

 

[acraven]

I'd like to know, too, but did you realize that the District Market closes at 2:30 PM? That's certainly going to limit its utility.

 

[toddlj]

I'd like to know, too, but did you realize that the District Market closes at 2:30 PM? That's certainly going to limit its utility.

Their website says:
SATURDAY & SUNDAY
ARENA EVENT NIGHTS ONLY. ONLY FOR THOSE ATTENDING THE EVENT.

 

[Debbie S]

I'd like to know, too, but did you realize that the District Market closes at 2:30 PM? That's certainly going to limit its utility.

Yikes, I didn't realize that. And only open Mon-Fri.

Their website says:
SATURDAY & SUNDAY
ARENA EVENT NIGHTS ONLY. ONLY FOR THOSE ATTENDING THE EVENT.

It would be great if it were open Sat and Sun nights, but IME, in-arena food establishments don't always consider Nats to be an "event" - i.e. it's not basketball, hockey, or a concert, therefore not on their schedule.

 

[maureenfarone]

I checked the SuperShuttle website for info on pricing in Detroit . I've used SuperShuttle about 6 or 7 times in different cities and Detroit is by far the most expensive...I was shocked.

To go from the Detroit Metro Airport to a downtown hotel is $125 round trip in a car and $250 round trip in an SUV for 1 person. There may be lower pricing if you are traveling with someone and wish to share the car or SUV. It does not appear that they have a shared van (which I've used everywhere else) available.